1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to load carrying baskets for bicycles and the like which are adapted to be securely, though releasably, anchored to a carrier rack which is secured to and carried by the bicycle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,867 to A. J. Fritz et al discloses a detachable tricycle basket which is removably associated with and between a pair of laterally spaced support frames which are secured to and disposed in spanning relationship with respect to the rear wheels of a tricycle. The opposite side edges of the upper peripheral wires of the basket are provided with clamping means hingedly secured thereto for movement between locking and unlocking relationship with respect to a pair of elevated, laterally spaced arms which are secured to and carried by the support frames. The bottom of the basket is supported on a pair of laterally spaced U-shaped bottom members which depend from and extend between transversely extending rods which span the spaced support frames.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,549 of F. P. Brilando et al discloses a universal support for the front basket of a bicycle wherein the support is secured to and carried solely by the bicycle stem to which the handlebars are secured, said support including upstanding front and rear walls and a flat bottom wall which engage corresponding portions of a wire basket associated therewith. The support includes a substantially vertically disposed basket-clamping mechanism which is yieldably and normally urged downwardly by a spring. The clamp is adapted to be elevated against the counterforce of the spring by a lifting force applied to a handle during those periods of time when a basket is being associated with the support whereby the clamp will engage the uppermost peripheral wire at the top of the rear wall of the basket, thereby securing the basket between the upstanding front and rear walls of the support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,219 of E. K. Hine, Jr. discloses a Handlebar Pack and Support Therefor which comprises a cantilever support which projects over and forwardly from the center portion of a handlebar wherein said support includes a pair of laterally spaced forwardly projecting forked side members which extend in a substantially horizontal direction and a pair of depending members each of which are adapted to be received within elongate pockets and wherein a U-shaped elastic member is adapted to engage the lower ends of said depending members to resiliently secure said ends relative to the stem of a bicycle for stabilizing the support.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,595 to L. Rhoer discloses an article carrier for velocipedes in the form of a basket which is fastened to the handlebar of a velocipede by support means which are an integral part of the basket, per se, viz, a pair of laterally spaced hook-like members, portions of which are adapted to engage the horizontal portions of the handlebar on opposite sides of the handlebar stem, and other portions of which define a U-shaped loop which fits around the upstanding stem-supporting-post of the velocipede to which the U-shaped loop is secured by means of a locking pin which spans the legs of the U-shaped loop beyond the stem-supporting-post, said locking pin being releasably maintained by means of a pivotally mounted wire catch when in a lowered substantially horizontal position. The lower portion of the rear wall of the basket is provided with a transverse strut having a U-shaped portion disposed centrally therein which is adapted to loosely and abuttingly engage the forward surface of the steering post housing. The basket of this reference is subject to movement and vibration relative to the velocipede frame since the basket is pivotally secured relative to the steering post housing by the U-shaped loop which loosely engages it.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,700,493 to R. C. Meir, Jr. discloses a bicycle basket which is adapted to be secured to and detached from a bicycle by means of a pair of support legs of the basket which are pivotally mounted for movement between operative, lowered and inoperative raised positions, and which when in raised position detached from a bicycle provides a compact unit. A pair of hub-supported leg-receptive brackets are secured to and carried by the bicycle hub to telescopically receive the legs when in operative lowered position relative to the basket. The basket also includes a pair of laterally spaced rearwardly extending U-shaped arms 26 and 27 which are disposed on opposite sides of the steering post housing whereby to be received within complimentary sockets which are secured to, carried by, and depend from and relative to the central horizontal portion of a handlebar. The attaching legs which are pivotally secured to the bottom wall of the basket are adapted to be pivoted upwardly to a substantially horizontal position in parallelism with the bottom of the basket when it is removed from the bicycle wherein the length of said legs project a substantial distance beyond the rear wall of the basket and beyond the depending U-shaped mounting leg which is secured to the upper portion of the rear wall of the basket.
When the basket has been disconnected from the bicycle those portions of the leg-receptive brackets which are secured to and project upwardly from the hub shaft are disposed in upwardly inclined spaced relationship with respect to the bicycle hub until and unless removed from the hub.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,253 of H. C. Hawkins et al discloses a bag carrier for bicycles which is clamped to the frame member by a first pair of semi-circular members for grasping the frame member in a first direction, and a second pair of semi-circular members for grasping the frame member in a second and opposing direction, said attachment means being fabricated from wire rods which having been initially formed to the desired shape will retain said shape when subjected to normal use which contemplates support of the weight of a bag or the like which is received within and suspended from the hanger.